It’s here. The Frank X. Tolbert – Wick Fowler Championship Chili Cookoff is this weekend out in Terlingua, Texas November 3,4th and 5th 2011. Past events have gotten so heated that one cheating contestant [who won the affair] was described this way: “That rotten, no-good scoundrel,” chili judge Tom Nall said. “We’ve posted guards around the Texas border to keep him out.” This was after the winner, Don Eastep, a retiree from Illinois had been banished from the great state when it was discovered that he hadn’t actually cooked any chili, instead opting to gather one bite apiece from the 80 real contestants and turning their work in as his own.

Cheating at the Chili Cook-Off.

Last year a woman emerged victorious as the champion. Let’s hope Christine Knight of Cibolo, Texas returns to defend her crown. We’re going to have to sit this one out. It’s tempting but we have a quarterly Txoko event to attend on Saturday night so we’ll have to make plans for next year.

If you’d like to go but just don’t have the time here’s our recipe for creating your own kettle of Texas Red: link

Here is the complete set of rules for preparing an authentic kettle of Texas Red Chili link